London Welsh head coach Justin Burnell has insisted the signing of ex-England international Olly Barkley and three other new boys were necessary to give his side a fighting chance of Premiership survival next term.

The exiles confirmed the signings of former England international Olly Barkley, Tristan Roberts, Nick Reynolds and Chris Elder this week less than seven days after securing their top flight return.

Fly half Roberts, 27, switches from Bristol where he struggled to start ahead of Nicky Robinsion and Adrian jarvis, while former Esher full back Elder joins from Plymouth and former Wales U20 centre Reynolds moves from Llanelli Scarlets.

Barkley, who has scored 1,588 points in 181 Premiership appearances for Bath and Gloucester, is the headline arrival in a similar way to the signing of Gavin Henson prior to their last top level campaign, and Burnell reckons his contribution will be key to his side's battle against the drop.

"Olly has a wealth of experience , both at club and international level and he is exactly the type of player we're looking for'" said the coach.

"He's got a fantastic game understanding and his other biggest strong p[opint is his accuracy with the ball.

"His goal kicking is phenonmenal and we'll need that in the Premiership."